The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth. At present, the amber beads are preserved in the collections of the Muzeul Național de Istorie a Moldovei, while the remainder of the hoard is in the possession of a private collector. The hoard was discovered accidentally in a pit about 50 cm deep. The objects in this hoard are of Western origin, with known parallels in archaeological complexes from Poland, Hungary, Serbia, and Slovakia, and, to a lesser extent, in Romania. The presence of this bronze hoard on the territory of the Republic of Moldova illustrates the cultural dynamics of the region during the Early Iron Age and a fundamental shift in the vector of cultural influences from east to west. The amber bead strand comprises 16 whole beads and five fragmentary ones. They have an elongated biconical shape and vary in size. The beads are brown-reddish in color; their lengths range from 1.1 to 3.1 cm, widths from 0.6 to 1.4 cm, thicknesses from 0.6 to 1.1 cm, and the perforation diameter ranges between 0.2 and 0.3 cm. Amber beads appear in several bronze hoards dated to the Late Bronze Age in the eastern half of Slovakia and in Transdanubian Hungary. Parallels are also known from the Cioclovina Cave in Romania. With the onset of the Iron Age, amber items disappear from the Carpathian Basin for approximately 300 years, reappearing alongside the arrival of Scythian elements. The bronze hoard discovered at Nisporeni is dated to the HaA2-HaB1-2 interval (1050/1000 - 800/750 B.C.).
Some aspects regarding exchange of salt in 6th - 2nd millennia BC in the Carpatho-Danubian area
Tyragetia, serie nouă, vol. IV [XIX], nr. 1, Arheologie. Istorie Antică
The article deals with prehistoric salt production and exchange of salt in south-east and east-central Europe. The major points of the article are: 1. the modeling of the traditional forms of salt production and exchange in the area; 2. the identification of archaeological indications specific to every type of salt production and exchange; 3. the classification of available archaeological evidence of prehistoric salt production and exchange in Carpatho-Danubian zone.
Salt had two major senses during prehistoric period: on one hand it was as a good of daily consumption and thrifty use, on the other hand it was the exotic good. Every of these senses implied different types of production and exchange. The daily consumption and thrifty use salt could be made both within domestic and industrial productions. Of these, only industrial one was intended for long-distance exchange of salt. Salt as the exotic good was made only within special i.e. „sacred" type of production. This type of industry produced „miraculous" salt which was mainly, if not exclusively, intended for long-distance exchange.
The available archaeological evidence of salt production in the Carpatho-Danubian area is classified in the article on the above principles (tab. 1). Thus, the Neolithic salt production centers from Subcarpathian Moldavia (Lunca and Ţolici) as well as the Eneolithic one from the same area (Cucuieți) are attributed in the article to the domestic production of salt for daily consumption and thrifty use. The main goal of this type of production was to produce salt for domestic use or/and for short-distance traffic. Neolithic and especially Eneolithic salt production attested at Provadia-Solnitsata (northeast Bulgaria) is classified as industrial one. It produced common salt by evaporation of brine, and its main destination was the long-distance exchange, perhaps to east Balkans and North-Pontic area. The Eneolithic salt production centers from subcarpathian Moldavia (Lunca, Ţolici, Cacica, Solca etc.) produced exotic salt in the form of small cone-shaped cakes by evaporation in small briquetage. It was produced for long-distance exchange. The two Early Bronze Age salt production sites from northern Transylvania (Băile Figa and Săsarm) are classified as the domestic production centers which extracted rock salt for their own use and/or for short-distance traffic.
More attention is paid in the article to the end of Middle and Late Bronze Age (the end of 17th-9th centuries BC) salt mining centers from Transylvania and Maramureș: Băile Figa, Caila, Săsarm, Ocna Dej, Valea Florilor, Valea Regilor (Tisolovo) and Solotvino (Ocna Slatina) (Case Study). By all the available evidence, these centers seem to have been involved in the large-scale salt production and long-distance trade. Blocks of rock salt were traded from these centers to Hungarian Plane, by Someș and Tisa rivers. It is well-known fact that the period of functioning of the above salt mining production centers was the one of widest spread of tin bronze objects in the area. That is why, it seems likely that in exchange of salt its owners get, among other goods, tin.
List of illustrations: Fig. 1. The map of the Late Bronze Age salt mining sites: 1 - Caila; 2 - Săsarm; 3 - Băile Figa; 4 - Ocna Dej; 5 - Valea Florilor; 6 - Solotvino (Ocna Slatina); 7 - Valea Regilor (Tisolovo). Fig. 2. Northern Transylvania. Troughs in situ: 1 - Caila; 2, 3 - Băile Figa. Behind the trough at the position 2 the one can observe a ladder. Fig. 3. Băile Figa. One of the troughs (the same at fig. 2/3, the nearest plan). Wood. Fig. 4. Băile Figa. The pegs from the trougs (the troughs at fig. 2). Fig. 5. Băile Figa. One of the troughs (uncovered close to the trough at fig. 2/2). Fig. 6. Băile Figa. The pegs from one of the troughs (the trough at fig. 5). Fig. 7. Băile Figa, the year 2010. The experiment with the trough. Fig. 8. Băile Figa. Mining tools. Stone. Fig. 8. Băile Figa. Tools. Wood. Fig. 10. Băile Figa. The wooden construction for storage of salt (?). Fig. 11. Băile Figa. The parts of wooden constructions for storage of salt (?).
The 21 beads form part of a bronze hoard found in 2019 within a forested area close to the town of Nisporeni. Alongside the beads, the hoard included numerous bronze ornaments (2 Röschitz-Sanislău-type fibulae, 7 necklaces, 12 rings, 22 tubes, 23 bracelets, and approximately 80 appliqués), one coral bead and a pendant made from a wild animal's tooth...
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
The National Museum of History of Moldova takes place among the most significant museum institutions of the Republic of Moldova, in terms of both its collection and scientific reputation.
31 August 1989 St., 121 A, MD 2012, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova
